Over 60 representatives of all institutions and companies involved in the SUGAR project met on the 1st of September 2010 at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Kiel to align their actual work status and to prepare future operations. SUGAR means “Submarine Gas Hydrate Reservoirs: Exploration, Exploitation and Transport”. It is a national joint research project, which develops new technologies for the exploration and the exploitation of submarine gas hydrate reservoirs as well as new concepts for the gas transport. 30 partners from science and industry are involved, Prof. Klaus Wallmann of IFM-GEOMAR is project coordinator. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology plus several partners from the industry.

Scientists from the SUGAR project already met with representatives of scientific institutes and energy agencies from India on Monday and Tuesday, to discuss a common approach in the gas hydrate research. Thereby Prof. Wallmann and Indrajit Dutta, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, signed a memorandum of understanding, which foresees a research strategy for the following five years. Two expeditions were planned during the German-Indian workshop with Indian research vessels as well as one expedition with the German research vessel SONNE to explore gas hydrate reservoirs off the Indian coast.

More information:

• SUGAR: plenum and joint projects with India